Other people often put barriers between you and Jesus that aren’t barriers at all. They can be moral barriers, gender barriers, ethnic barriers, religious barriers, time barriers: all kinds of barriers.

One morning Jesus met with a Samaritan woman at a well. She wasn’t of his race or his religion, and she doesn’t seem to have been a shining example of virtue. As Jesus started to speak to her, she threw the barriers up. She says,

You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. (John 4:9, NIV).

Jesus replied with an amazing statement:

If you only knew what a wonderful gift God has for you, and who I am… (John 4:10, TLB)

Whoever you are, Jesus is saying to you today,

“If you only knew who I am, and what I have for you, you wouldn’t ever doubt me again. You’d never feel worthless, you’d never feel alone again, you’d never be afraid. Oh, my son, my daughter… if you only knew!”

The things that keep us away from having a real friendship with Jesus are the wrong ideas that have been put in our heads about who he is and what he does for us. These wrong ideas can come from our culture, from our upbringing, from our education, and even from our church. They tell us that the love of Jesus is limited and conditional on our good behaviour. They tell us that Jesus isn’t really interested in us and our issues. They tell us that we’re never quite good enough for him to take any notice of us.

If you only knew who Jesus is and what he has for you!

Jesus offered the Samaritan woman an incredible thing. He offered her water, but it wasn’t just ordinary water. This water that Jesus offers is so satisfying and refreshing that if you have sip of this water it will quench your thirst forever. Even more than that, this water will start to come from within you, and will simply keep on increasing.

Water represents life. Jesus was talking about life: the most satisfying life, truest life, eternal life.

Think about your own mediocre life and it’s struggles. If you only knew who Jesus is and what he has for you!

After having met Jesus, the woman went back to her village and told everyone,

Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah? (vv28-29, TLB).

She was discovering for herself who Jesus was. She had discovered that Jesus really was interested in everything that she had ever done, not to condemn her, but because even in those times when she had thought she was all alone, he had known her and been with her all along.

But Jesus is saying to you, just like he said to the woman at the well, “If you only knew who I am, and what I have for you!”